Okay sorry to double post, but it's a REAL slow day at work and I've been pondering this topic since my original reply... I really want to kick this aiptasia problem naturally. I can't reach all the aiptasia with my little syringe and the joe's juice so I'd really like to try the natural (fish, shrimp, or both) way, but I really want to choose the solution that is not going to eat and kill everything else...
Here is what is currently in my tank:
Fish - 2 Sebae Clowns, 1 flame hawk, 2 bar gobies, 1 pink spot gobie, 1 flasher wrasse
Inverts:
-- 2-3 Green Bubble Tip Anemones
-- Green Bristle Star
-- numerous cleaner snails and crabs
-- 2 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp
-- 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
-- 1 Cocoa Worm
Corals:
-- A few zoa rocks
-- a large hammer cluster
-- a 2 headed green torch
-- GSP growing everywhere... (at least it's covering the rock, but I wish it would SLOW down!!)
-- a few different types of Mushrooms
-- and finally a large growth of brown polys (50+ if I had to guess)
From what I've been reading on here and what I've found out on the web, there are 3 possible options: a butterfly, a bristle tail filefish, and/or peppermint shrimp
What I've seemed to determine that the Bristle tail would do good, but would most likely kill my shrimps and maybe my bubble tip, the Peppermint shrimp, which I've done before buying 8-10 at a time thanks to Marine Solutions but all just seem to dissappear never to be seen again, and finally the Copperband or Klein's butterfly... I've heard all the success stories of the CBB, my cousin Bobby (hamiltro) has one in his tank and it really cleaned house, but then I've read that they may nip at LPS.
So this makes me fear for my torch, the hammer, or even the Bubble Tips?? I know every fish is different, and no one can predict the future (or their keeping it secret), so I'm really just looking for some stories you've had or having with any of this solutions (CBB, File fish, peps), and how you think they might do with the system I've currently got in place. Would they eat my Torch, hammer, or GBTA? Or would they eat my cleaner shrimp?? I realize that I would most likely lose the Cocoa worm with a fish solution, but after sitting here thinking about my "fun" last night trying to hit a few here and there last night in the tank I think I'm ready to take some serious steps towards control/cleanup.
Thanks everyone for your time and input...
Mark